Various Soul Society Officals and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams
by InsaneLocoFangirl
Summary: When several captains of the Soul Society get sick, its up to the Lieutenants of the fifth, tenth, and third to find out what's going on. Not to mention a familiar tenth division third seat who's a child prodigy. Time Travel.
1. The Sickness

**Isshin Shiba, Toshiro Hitsuguya, Momo Hinamori, Rangiku Matsumoto, and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams Chapter 1**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any character mentioned**

 **Flash-forward / Flashback**

Present

" _Thoughts"_

Black line = Time skip, POV, or scenery change

 **Toshiro Hitsuguya, Captain of Squad 10, overall genius and child prodigy, did not foresee this. But really who could? Out of all the captains in the Gotei 13, Souske Aizen had appeared to be the most trustworthy, the calmest. And yet, there he was, standing in front of the almost dead body of Momo Hinamori, Toshiro's childhood friend. Not to mention, Souske was supposed to be dead, stabbed through with his own sword, pinned to a wall.**

 **"Looks like you found her. Sorry, I didn't mean to traumatize you, maybe I should have cut her up into so many pieces that she was unrecognizable," Souske said coolly, smiling and glancing back at the shocked Squad 10 Captain over his shoulder.**

 **"Exactly when was it that… you joined forces with Gin Ichimaru, Souske?!" Toshiro yelled, whipping around, hand on the hilt of his zanpakto, Hyorinmaru.**

 **"Whatever do you mean, Hitsuguya-Taicho? I've never considered anyone but Gin a comrade since I became Captain," Souske said it so calmly, so innocently, so casually that Hitsuguya couldn't stand it. When Souske hurt Hinamori, he had signed his death warrant, and now, Toshiro would be the one to carry it out.**

 **Yelling in uncontrollable rage, the Squad 10 Captain released all of his reitsu, his spiritual pressure, "I'll kill you!** **Bankai! Daiguren, Hyorinmaru!** **"**

 **Gin and Souske were on the platform now, avoiding the deadly spiritual attack. Yelling, Hitsuguya lunged, freezing Souske on spot, sword tearing through his chest. Souske just smiled, lifting his head up from his frozen prison. Souske disappeared, and it took a while, but finally blood spurted from a diagonal wound across Hitsuguya's chest. He would have screamed, if he had had enough time before he fell unconscious to do so.**

Shooting up from his desk, the Captain of Squad 10, Isshin Shiba woke up in a cold sweat.

"Taicho?" Third seat Toshiro Hitsuguya of Squad 10 asked, looking up from the couch where he sat, doing the paperwork Isshin was supposed to be doing.

Dizzy, Isshin sat down, on the floor, as his chair had fallen backwards from getting up so quickly. Isshin slammed into the floor, so shocked that the pain didn't register.

"Toshiro?" Isshin asked, confused. He could have sworn he saw his third seat get killed by Souske Aizen, Captain of Squad 5.

The third seat rushed over, not exactly concerned, but rather annoyed, as the infamous Squad 10 Captain did it again, fell asleep doing paperwork. Drooling all over the reports he was supposed to be signing off on, which caused Hitsuguya to copy all the reports again, which was more of a pain than doing normal paperwork. Frowning, Toshiro placed a hand over his Captain's forehead. Surprised, the third seat got up, holding out a hand in an offer to help.

"Uh… what's all this ruckus about?" Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto of Squad 10 asked dumbly, waking up from Sake induced sleep.

"Help me get this idiot to the Captain's Quarters, he's burning up. Whether it's from too much Sake or some other stupid thing you two do, I can't have him messing up all the paperwork," Toshiro said, picking up the fallen chair.

Ah, so that's why he bothered to see if I had a fever. That brat loves his paperwork so much, that if his Captain threw up on them, he'd probably kill someone. Isshin Shiba just stared dumbly at the ceiling, thinking over what was hopefully just some Sake induced stupid dream and not some sort of premonition. Isshin thought annoyed, before his eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out.

Matsumoto muttered something about annoying subordinates before getting out of her chair and drudging over to Isshin. Grabbing his arms, she quickly hoisted him onto her back, piggyback style. As she walked forward, towards the thin doors leading out of the office, Hitsuguya opened the door, closing it after her as she went, following Matsumoto. Hitsuguya easily kept pace with the lumbering Matsumoto, who made no sign that she would go any faster than her painfully slow pace. That was all right with the Third Seat though, it wasn't that he felt compelled to make sure his Captain made it safely to his quarters and then taken care of, but as much as the rumor mill said he loved paperwork, it was wrong. He loathed paperwork just as much as a Captain did, but he just dully accepted its existence and need to be completed. It was even worse that his Captain and Lieutenant were famous for not doing paperwork, and when they did, it was nothing better than shoddy. So naturally, the Third Seat knew that without paperwork done, nothing much would happen and the horrid reputation of Squad 10 becoming even worse. Squad 10 was known mostly not for its combat skills, but mainly of the drunks who caused trouble wherever they went.

Sighing, Hitsuguya shook his head, annoyed with the looks shot his way once they figured out he was a third seat, and the third seat of Squad 10, no less. It was impossible to escape the reputation, besides; it was already bad enough that he was a child prodigy, seen by not really a shingami, too young by most outside of Squad 10. He felt the need to groan, but instead he just frowned as his small group passed a window, and he looked outside. It was a full moon tonight, snow falling, the sun gone down an hour ago. After this, Hitsuguya decided, he would take a break and walk around in the snow, too cold for most to be out.

Switching his attention back to his Captain, his frown deepened. It was very strange for the Captain to get a fever, even if he had drunken so much sake the floor was covered with bottles of it. Even with this weather, Isshin stayed inside mostly, sleeping or doing other non-Captain like activities. Which meant he hadn't got any sickness from outside, which meant that it probably wasn't the Sake, but definitely not the weather, which begged an important question, how did Isshin get sick?

They reached the Captain's quarters, which was basically a big house connected to the Squad 10's barracks. Going ahead, Hitsuguya pushed open the doors, standing by them to close them after Matusmoto. She came in after him, setting Isshin down on the couch in the first room, which was just a small room with couches circling a fire place in the wall. After closing the door, Hitsuguya trudged upstairs, to go get blankets and a pillow, seeing as no one had been in the house for a while, and it was almost as cold as outside. Matsumoto lit a fire with a simple kido in the fire place, and then sat down on one of the sofas closest to the fire, rubbing her arms in a desperate attempt to get warmer. A few minutes later, Hitsuguya walked down the stairs, a pillow under his arm and several blankets hanging over his shoulder.

Placing the pillow under Isshin's head, he placed all the blankets on Isshin, before throwing one of them at Matsumoto, who nodded her head in thanks, pulling her knees to her chest and pulling the blanket close around her.

"I'll be back; I'm going to go get some help from a Squad 4 member. Since I know you're not going to do any paperwork anyway, you might as well take care of the Captain while I'm gone," Hitsuguya muttered, opening the door and exiting.

Matsumoto spluttered a protest, but it was too late, the Third Seat was gone. She looked over dully at Isshin before grinning evilly, pulling out a black marker from between her breasts.

Toshiro closed the door behind him, hearing the beginnings of the Lieutenant's protest. Walking forward, he exited the warm hub that was the inside pathways of Squad 10, which were set up during the winter so that Squad members wouldn't freeze to death on their short walk to training or lunch or some other arbitrary activity not worth dying for.

Personally, Toshiro didn't see the point in the whole thing. Maybe that was because unlike most people, he found the cold comforting, welcoming, and overall a good thing. Of course, the rumor mill attributed it to his Zanpakto, Hyorinmaru, the most powerful ice and snow Zanpakto in recorded shingami history. Of course, there was no saying exactly if that was the truth or not, since Toshiro saw no point in trying to control something that obviously could not be controlled. Besides, Toshiro didn't give much thought to how people viewed him, unless it was about his child like body or his short stature, which annoyed him to no end.

Toshiro was shocked from his thoughts when he came across one of the frozen ponds of the many gardens that surrounded Squad 10's barracks. Nobody besides a Squad 10 member or another Captain would know about the beautiful, well-kept gardens, if anyone had, they would either act in awe, jealousy, or just plain rude. He looked at the pond, stepping dangerously close to its rim, leaning forward slightly. Toshiro looked at his reflection, which he hadn't seen in five years or so, and was actually taken aback.

His hair was longer, his fringe close to covering up part of his left eye, not to mention the last time he saw it, his hair was flatter, but now spikes sprung up in several places. He looked leaner, stronger, than he had five years ago, the year he had become a Shingami and joined Squad 10. His face seemed to be set in stone, a face of neutral expression, neither happy nor sad. His eyes had lost its glimmer, but that was to be expected, ever since Kusaka… He shook his head, pushing the memory aside, he couldn't afford to stare at his own reflection or reflect on memories. Taking one last look before he headed back on his Journey to Squad 4. He noticed two things. One, his eyes had a cold, penetrating stare that could make anyone squeak. And two, the one that made him smirk, he had gotten a little taller.

Toshiro didn't bother to waste energy by using Flash Step on the way to the Squad Four Barracks, he decided that Isshin could wait longer, and that this would be the opportunity he needed to relax a little and take a walk. That didn't mean he took the scenic route though, but rather took the fastest on the streets, enjoying the company that only came with no one around, the company of the wind and cold and snow. Instead of feeling cold, Toshiro felt nothing but comfort from the winter weather, which had, at times, saved and reattached whatever remained of his sanity and patience during the worst times.

Breathing in deeply, and then releasing the breath, he watched it, visible in the cold weather. Turning the corner, he found himself face to face with Lieutenant Momo Hinamori, Toshiro's childhood friend.

"Oh, Shiro! I didn't see you there," Momo said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head.

"It's fine," Toshiro muttered, brushing past her. He was not happy to see Momo. The two had drifted apart when Momo started attended the Shingami academy, and the trench that had been between them turned into a ravine once she became an official Shingami, and then that ravine turned into a lake as she became a Lieutenant, and he a Shingami. He hadn't seen her for five years, ever since before his graduation, ever since Kusaka. Despite what people whispered behind his back, he did not loath Hinamori for drifting apart, for allowing, intentionally or not, for their friendship built on many years to fall apart. Besides, Toshiro was also to blame, for not purposefully setting up meetings with Momo or seeing her on the days when he knew she was free on. It was just that seeing Hinamori brought back some bitter emotions he had once felt toward her, before he realized it was also his fault that their friendship fell apart.

Momo frowned, perturbed by the fact that he had not corrected her when she called him Shiro, "Eh, Shiro… I wanted to ask. Are you okay? You look kind of angry, and…"

Momo slowed to a stop as Toshiro turned around, a frown on his face, "Hinamori, I know what you're asking. I'm not angry at you; don't listen to the rumor mill. You should know that by now." Toshiro held back a wince as he saw the hurt on her face as he called her Hinamori instead of Momo. He realized that his face did look angry, and, maybe no one else saw it, but he did. Behind that angry face, in his eyes, was fear, and so much… so much hurt. Like nothing else, the emotion displayed on his face, behind his mask of ice, he hurt. His face indeed did look angry, to anyone, even to people who knew his well. Now, Toshiro was unreadable, unpredictable. It was the reason, he realized, people looked at him with hate, disgust, and fear on their faces. They were afraid, of him, of what he could do, of what was under that icy mask. Toshiro's face was angry, because he was angry at the world, for inflicting that pain upon him.

It took him a few moments for Toshiro to register Momo's next words, "Why are you heading toward the Squad 4 Barracks? And Shiro, what happened to us?"

Toshiro blinked dumbly before answering, "I'm headed to the Squad 4 Barracks to get some help since Captain Shiba broke out with a fever and fell unconscious." He turned. "As for what happened to us, Momo. That's pretty easy to answer. We changed, and then we drifted apart."

Toshiro Flash Stepped away, eager to get away from Hinamori, to get back to the Squad 10. He immediately regretted not just Flash Stepping earlier. He could've avoided that whole mess all together.

Momo stared dumbly at where Shiro had stood, recalling his words. **"That's pretty easy to answer. We changed, and then we drifted apart."** He had said, as if he had known all along that it was occurring, that eventually, they would meet again.

Back a year before his graduation ceremony, Momo had asked him what Shiro thought of her, of who she was. He had hesitated for a few seconds before answering. **"Momo, you're the type of person who is shaped by others. You depend on others around you to support you. If you were part of a tree, you would be the trunk. Without your roots, your supporters, you would topple over and die, but at the same time, you help those around you grow, perhaps by gaining from your personality, it makes them feel… important I guess, like raising a child, they have the ability to shape who you are and who you will become. In that way, your roots extend, searching for more to support you, the trunk."** Or at least, that's what he had said.

She looked back it now slightly perturbed, because she realized he had perfectly described her. Shiro had said a few minutes ago that that they had both changed. Momo saw that though the words sounded bitter alone, spoken by another person, there hadn't been bitterness in his voice as he had said it. Shiro had been referring to Captain Aizen. When it had once been him that had been her roots, then Izuru and Renji along with him, it was only Aizen that she relied on now to shape her. His words sunk in, he had meant that it wasn't him that had changed the most, it was her. Aizen was strong, independent, but caring, a good Captain, he had changed her, changed her so much that it was as if their personalities didn't mix anymore, that Shiro felt it so strongly for so long he had given up, on her.

It made Momo sad, that Shiro had given up on her, but maybe he was right to do so. Even before she met Aizen really, Momo realized with guilt that, she had stopped visiting Shiro often, five times a year at best, because he was gone from her mind often, only when Izuru or Renji asked about him did she visit. Each time, she never noticed how he had changed. Once a brat who had only a love for his grandmother and watermelons and gave no care to how people thought of him, he was less aloof, less carefree, and more serious. Still aloof, and of course his love for watermelons never changed, even now, but during those times, he hadn't changed as much as he had in the last six years. Something had happened, something Momo realized, she would have to find out, to understand why Shiro had changed so much in a short span of time, how he had changed so drastically.

From where the figure stood, dressed in a black short sleeved shirt, white cargo pants, and a white jacket tied around his waist. The white haired man smiled, his blue green eyes glinting, his spiky white hair shinning from the light of the moon.

"I'm glad I finished up my paperwork before I left. It looks like," the man said quietly, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "I'll be staying here longer than I thought I would. This will be more fun than I originally thought."


	2. Fourth Division Humor

**Isshin Shiba, Toshiro Hitsuguya, Momo Hinamori, Rangiku Matsumoto, and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams Chapter 2**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any character mentioned**

 **Flash-forward / Flashback**

Present

" _Thoughts"_

Skipped line = Time skip, POV, or scenery change/author's note

 **The boy had a satisfied look on his face, along with the rest of his companions, who sighed in relief. Aizen was dead, finally… peace would return to the Soul Society, if only for a little while.**

 **"Wha… What the hell are you guys doing?!" Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute shinigami yelled, angry.**

 **Immediately, the figure thought to be Aizen turned into none other than Hinamori Momo, Hitsugaya Toshiro's, the one who currently had his zanpakto through her stomach, childhood friend. There were confused shouts from down below, where Momo was supposed to have been, injured by Ayon, the monster summoned by the subordinates of Tier Harribel, Espada number Three. The shouts were cut off as the person Kira Izuru and thought were Hinamori cut them down, turning out the be Aizen Souske, the bastard who betrayed the Soul Society and almost killed many people.**

 **Meanwhile, using his Bankai, Hitsugaya slowly descended onto a building, his eyes were wide and shocked, staring down at Hinamori, who was in his arms, staring at him with hurt eyes.**

 **"Shiro… why?" Hinamori asked quietly before passing out.**

 **Falling to his knees, Toshiro set down Hinamori, his breath short and rapid, his face covered by his hair. A few seconds later, a scream ripped from his throat, one of pure anger and sorrow, his face contorted into an anger, unlike anything the other Taicho's had seen before. Slamming a foot into the building, Toshiro rushed towards Aizen, using his Bankai to propel himself.**

 **"Control yourself, Captain!" Shunsui-taicho yelled, moving toward Toshiro and Aizen, preparing to attack as well.**

 **"You're young and eager to rush in. This will be your downfall, Hitsuguya," Aizen said quietly, appearing behind Hitsugaya.**

 **Blood spurted from Toshiro's left shoulder and mid-way up his left thigh. A moment later, it was clear what had happened as the Squad 10's Taicho's Bankai fell apart. Aizen had effectively cut off Hitsuguya's left arm and most of his left leg. A few moments later, the remaining Taicho's, minus Yamamoto-soutaicho, plus Shinji Hirako, one of the Vizards, attacked. They were easily cut down, just as easy as Hitsuguya. They all fell, Toshiro hitting the ground first, then the others. Ichigo stared in horror, with disbelieving, angry eyes.**

Isshin shot up, slamming his face into a Squad 4 member, 7th seat Yamada Hanataro. Groaning, Isshin slammed back down into the comfortable couch, and then peeked out from hands to look at his surroundings. "This is my quarters. What am I doing here?"

"Oh, Taicho! You're awake!" Came the ever cheerful voice of Matsumoto Rangiku, who sat across from where Isshin lay. Matsumoto opened her mouth to speak again when she was interrupted by a groan from Yamada, who lay on the ground, holding his forehead and rolling around in pain.

"Oops," Isshin said in a pained tone, gently touching his own forehead. His eyes widened in shock as he felt how hot it was.

"What's going on? Why exactly am in my quarters?

"And why was 7th seat Yamada hovering over me?"

Isshin paused to regain some breath and then opened his mouth again when someone spoke, "You have a bad fever and I thought it better for you to be in somewhere comfortable, where you could recover better. As for 7th seat Yamada, Unohana-taicho would've come herself, you being a taicho, but was busy, and Yamada was the highest ranking officer available."

Isshin turned his head toward the voice. A white haired boy leaned against the fireplace, arms folded, and a frown on his normally neutral face, his face illuminated by the raging fire. It reminded Isshin too much of his dreams, and he turned his face away from Toshiro, instead watching Yamada get up slowly.

"B-before you woke up, I had finished my in-depth examination, I-I cannot find the cause…" Hanataro paused, holding his head, and then continued. "…of your fever. I will send a hell butterfly to Unohana-taicho, as your fever is steadily increasing, and I should be here to help k-keep it down.

"I w-wanted to ask you if you were experiencing anything o-other than an increase or decrease in b-body temperature."

Isshin shifted uncomfortably from where he lay on the couch, considering lying about his dreams, but decided against it. When Unohana came, she would figure it out, and Yamada would be confused as to why he hadn't told him, "I had some… weird dreams, and I have a really bad headache."

Hanataro frowned and then walked to Isshin's side, and then leaned forward, studying the 10th division taicho intensely. Isshin shifted uncomfortably again until Hanataro's hands shot out and grabbed Isshin's arms, preventing him from moving. Isshin stared into the Squad 4's eyes, the silence deafening, even though the fireplace was lit.

The silence was broken by the sound of a door opening and Toshiro speaking, "I'll go get Unohana-taicho, there's no need to waste a hell butterfly, and I'll get there faster."

Toshiro closed the door behind him, and then shunpoed away from the Squad 10's barracks, appearing just outside the main gate of the barracks, before shunpoeing farther away. The cold wind whipped across Hitsuguya's face, but he didn't mind the company as he ran, making good time to the Fourth division.

Halfway there, Toshiro accidently misjudged his next shunpo, and slipped on a roof, hitting the ground on his back. Regaining his breath, Toshiro frowned, how unlike him it was to misjudge something as simplistic as a shunpo. Getting up, he glanced to the left, where the main street was. A small group of friends passed by the alley entrance, all new recruits, all from the 10th division. Toshiro could tell by their division symbols, which was supposed to be on the inside of their black Shitagi, was inside out, and only fresh out of the academy rookies made that mistake. They seemed to have noticed the white-haired third seat, and the leader, a short, ugly, freckle-faced boy sauntered over to Toshiro, stopping in front of him. The remaining three friends stood just behind him, snickering at what they thought their leader would do to the boy shinigami.

"What do we have here? Are you some stupid rookie fresh out of the academy? No way are you a real shinigami though, you're just a brat who probably stole his clothes from some stupid rookie. No way would veterans like us let some brat take out clothes, and not to mention, zanpakto!" The idiot lashed out with his leg, aiming for Toshiro's face.

A loud crack resounded throughout the ally, and the idiot stared dumbly at the third seat. Toshiro had blocked the blow with his hand, and the idiot's foot hung awkwardly from his joint. The temperature in the alley decreased, where it had once been cold enough to make someone where 4 layers, now you at least needed 10 to feel any warmth. The third seat's face was cold, and white reitsu flared off him in waves, making the small group tremble.

With his free hand, he turned over the inside of his Shitagi, showing the 10th division symbol, and with a calm voice said, "My name is Hitsugaya Toshiro, and I'm from the tenth squad, your squad. Now, as you four are clearly rookies, seeing as your Shitagi is inside out, why don't you tell me, exactly what my rank might be, if they teach you correctly in squad assignments anymore?"

black haired girl, who was trembling along with the rest, not just from the cold but from the contained reitsu coming off of Hitsuguya, spoke up, "You're the third seat, below Matsumoto-fukitaicho and Shiba-taicho. Your ice and snow zanpakto is second to none in that family of zanpakto, and you are close to achieving Bankai."

"Very good," Toshiro said with a fake smile. "As I said before, you're all rookies, and as I'm sure you group of idiots aren't the only rookies, go tell your friends that I will not take kindly to any rookie who treats any other shinigami, whether it be another rookie, a taicho, or an academy student, like any lesser than them. Again, you're all rookies, so seeing that I'll overlook this incident; just don't make the same mistake twice."

With that being said, the third seat shunpoed as far as he could from the rookies and continued on his way to the 4th division. Fueled by annoyance, he made better time than he would have, even with the interruption.

Toshiro arrived at the main gate of the 4th division, and the two shinigami standing guard waved him inside immediately, feeling no need to check him for identification. Toshiro frequented the 4th division because of the many injuries he received from Bankai training. He strolled through the doors of the white building, greeted by the annoying sterile state of the building, which he loathed. It bustled with activity, and several shinigami crowded around a tall black haired woman, all asking questions at the same time. Toshiro recognized her immediately as Unohana-taicho, quite possibly the best healer the Soul Society has ever had. She noticed his approach and quickly dispersed the crowd around her, answering questions and giving instructions. Toshiro was only half way to her when the last of the Squad 4 members were gone.

"How nice to see you again, Hitsugaya-kun. Has Shiba-taicho's condition worsened?" Unohana asked, getting straight to the point as always, skipping most of the pleasantries that other captains would have exchanged.

"I'm afraid so, Unohana-taicho. Seventh seat Yamada cannot find the cause of Shiba-taicho's fever, and it is steadily increasing. As well as Shiba-taicho stating that he had a headache and has been having strange dreams," Toshiro said, moving with her toward the door.

"Thank you for coming to deliver this information yourself, I will be coming with you on your return to the 10th division. The Gotei Thirteen cannot afford to have another of their captains incapacitated, even during this time of peace. And," Unohana paused, frowning. "The fact that seventh seat Yamada cannot discern the reason for Shiba-taicho's fever worries me. Yamada could be a third seat if not for his indecisive nature and tendency to faint. He is one of the best healers in the Seireitei, it bothers me greatly if not even he could do this. I fear that it is not Sake or illness that is causing your taicho's fever, but an outside source. This concurs with the strange rumors floating about recently."

"Rumors?" Hitsugaya asked between shunpoes.

"Yes," Unohana responded as they reached the gate of the 10th division. "Apparently, there have been reports of a strange figure around the divisions, starting with the Thirteenth, then so on downward, skipping the Tenth, Sixth, and Eigth, until the most recent, which would be the First division. Throughout the divisions, now including your taicho, there have been three cases of this strange behavior in which a taicho has fallen ill to fever. Kuchiki-taicho, Shunsui-taicho, and now recently, Shiba-taicho. What worries me the most of the taicho's conditions is this new development, the strange dreams; it may not seem like much, but depending on what Shiba-taicho will tell us of his dreams, they could be nothing, or what causes the downfall of the Gotei Thirteen."

Unohana and Toshiro were silent for the remainder of their short walk to the taicho's quarters, which was in the back of the barracks. Toshiro was mulling over what Unohana had said, and Unohana knew she had just dumped ice cold water on him, so she remained silent, trying to make sense of the taicho's conditions as well as to let the third seat dry a little bit, or at least put on some dry clothes. The two walked quickly through the halls, passing by a small group sneaking back into the barracks after a night of drinking. It had been an hour since Isshin had been taken to his quarters, and was a fairly early time for the more experienced, veteran drinkers who usually stayed way past midnight and into the morning. Sometimes they would stumble into the main office, hungover or still drunk, and then collapse. It took every bit of his self-control for Toshiro to stop himself from screaming in exasperation and throwing them outside. Every time, though, he would pick however many people up, and put them in their cots, and the next day, they would come in with a hangover, apologize and thank him, and then go lie down, sometimes right on the floor.

The group froze as the two high ranking shinigami walked toward, and then past them, neither saying anything to the group or to each other. Toshiro didn't say anything, although he normally would, because of the torrent of info that was coursing through his mind, where he pulled and ripped apart info to try to come up with a conclusion or something that made sense. Like, who could've done this to three taicho's and not be caught? And, will Shiba-taicho be alright? Unohana didn't speak because it wasn't really her business, not with the lame drinking of the group, seeing as she hadn't seen them before, it was likely they wouldn't be able to drink enough to get such a bad hangover that Toshiro wouldn't send them over to her division, not yet anyway. She was amused at the fact that once they passed, the group let out a collective sigh, until Unohana whipped around and they all squeaked, running away, dragging their passed out companion with them. Smiling, Unohana turned back around, seeing as they had reached their destination.

Toshiro muttered something under his breath in thought, and then almost walked into the door, stopping only at the last second. He looked up in mild surprise before opening the door, and then face palmed.

Matsumoto was dancing around the room, chanting something, crab walking occasionally and then jumping, a very serious expression on her face. The pink scarf normally wrapped around her neck now around her mouth and head, her sleeved pushed up to her shoulders, and clapping in erratic patterns. The fire, which had been sporting a vibrant orange, was now a dark green, and it seemed to dance and clap along with Matsumoto. What was worse, if anything could be worse or damaging, was seventh seat Yamada, who had his pant legs pushed up to his knees and a weird feather on his head, standing on one leg, humming with his arms folded over his chest and eyes closed. But no, oh no, when everything seemed to be as worse as it could be, there the infamous Squad 10 Taicho was, singing and dancing right along with Matsumoto.

It was almost too much to bear, and the third seat decided the only way to get the strange scene out of his head was to force it out by banging his head against the wall continuously, only pausing when Unohana walked into the room, which in turn stopped the commotion. Half of Toshiro expected her to explode and yell at the bumbling idiots, or at least Isshin, while the other half expected her to join in with the dancing, clapping, and horrid singing. Neither happened, instead, Unohana walked over to Isshin, and forced him to sit down on the couch, who wore a terrified and slightly embarrassed expression. Matsumoto stood awkwardly or rather had stopped mid crab walk, frozen and confused. Yamada had passed out, the feather falling on his face.

Toshiro resumed the banging of his head on the wall for a minute, before stopping and then walking over to Unohana, standing far away enough to give her room to examine Isshin, but close enough to see what she was doing. Rangiku had stood up, her scarf wrapped normally around her neck and looking more or less like she did normally. Her face was beet red, but Toshiro didn't feel the need to lessen her embarrassment, seeing as he felt it too, his own face burning. Besides, she deserved it, for whatever the hell she was doing with Isshin and Hanataro, who was no doubt forced into doing the strange ritual if it could be called that.

"Hmm…" Unohana muttered, pushing on Isshin's temple.

Isshin reacted instantly, he jerked back so hard he almost lied down and then proceeded to mutter in pain and rub his forehead. Unohana only nodded firmly and sat down on the couch opposite Isshin, studying his every move.

"You're condition is the same as Kuchiki and Shunsui Taicho. It appears to be that whatever ails you three are connected to your head, as most illnesses are in the Soul Society. But what I want to know is what your dreams are about," Unohana said, continuing to stare at Isshin, who had stopped rubbing his temple.

Isshin shifted uncomfortably in his seat, facing Unohana, "They're about…."

The taicho bit down on his lip and contemplated what he was going to say, before muttering, "Hitsugaya, Matsumoto, I'd like you to leave the room."

Toshiro's eyes went wide, as did Rangiku's, but neither moved from where they stood. In response to the two's stubbornness, Isshin looked up and stared at the two of them hard, "This is an order, leave the room. Matsumoto, Hitsuguya, you have the rest of the week off."

Toshiro flexed his hands into fists a few times before turning around and walking out of the room, fists shaking with the force he put on them. Rangiku stared at Toshiro's leaving form before shaking her head and following him, eyes narrowed in anger but also concern. Rangiku stopped at the doorway, glanced over her shoulder, and then slammed the door shut, making the objects on the shelves lining the walls shake.

"Now that those two are gone, why don't you tell me what seems to be bothering you so much, Isshin?" Unohana said, placing a hand on her fellow taicho's knee in comfort.

Rangiku found her fellow squad member outside of the pathways, standing outside in the cold, eyes closed, and arms crossed over his chest. Toshiro let out a deep breath, which floated up into the sky but was quickly swept away by the freezing wind. His eyes popped open and he glanced over at Rangiku, who was watching him quizzically.

"What do you want, Matsumoto?" Toshiro said coldly, his voice even.

"Oh you know, just wondering what you thought about Taicho kicking us out," Rangiku said, her voice devoid of her usual cheeriness.

Toshiro glanced over her again, stared at the wall for a few seconds, and then turned to face her, "I thought that was pretty obvious, I'm pissed. I know that I don't make it too clear that I care about you two idiots, and that you two seem to think I only love my paperwork, but I'm not completely heartless. I mean, if you two were gone, I'd practically be running the division by myself, although I'm practically doing it already, and I do not want to deal with other taicho's or fukitaicho's for a few more years."

Rangiku blinked in surprise, and then looked at the ground, "Huh. I suppose that's kind of nice, although you make it seem as if you'll be a taicho or fukitaicho within a few years… Otherwise, I wouldn't have a doubt about it being nice."

"Anyway… I guess since you told me how you felt about the whole thing, I'll tell you how I feel," Rangiku let out a deep breath. "Frankly, I hate it. I feel helpless, knowing that Shiba-taicho is sick, and I can't do a fucking thing about it. It kind of makes me sick, how-"

Rangiku stopped talking in shock as Toshiro walked forward and wrapped his small arms around her. He placed his head against her right arm, and squeezed tight, "Listen, I feel helpless too. But right now, that's not what we should be feeling right now. On the walk here, Unohana told me about various rumors about a figure appearing around divisions barracks, these rumors haven't reached the tenth because only the taicho's who have fallen ill have not had this figure appear in their barracks. So what we can do for Shiba-taicho is to find out who it is causing these rumors."

Toshiro let go, turned and walked a few steps away, glanced back at Rangiku, and then disappeared in a shunpo. Rangiku stared at where he had disappeared and then smirked suddenly. ' _I guess you're right, Toshiro. I shouldn't feel helpless because I can do something.'_

The man watched the action and mulled over his next actions. _'Interesting, they seem to think they know what's going on, when in actuality, I'm just leading them around like pigs to the slaughter. Actually, that's a really bad analogy... because that not really what I'm doing. I always like to go to the extremes._ ' The man smirked as he thought, but a beep interrupted his thoughts and his mouth tugged its corners down into a frown. ' _Looks like, they've sent some people after me sooner than I thought they would… I guess I'll have to speed up my plans a bit. How troublesome. You'd think that my 'friends' would at least try to come up with some excuse for me. That new soutaicho is a complete idiot. If he thinks a few lieutenants will be able to stop me, this new guy needs to pull his head out of his ass. Seriously, why didn't Shunsui become soutaicho, or maybe… Byakuya? No, the kid's too inexperienced. Oh well, knowing Soi Fong, she probably tried her best to hold off the new guy for as long as possible.' A cruel smile danced across the man's face. 'Doesn't matter, whoever these shinigami they sent after me, I'll make quick work of them… Later, though, I'm way too busy right now.'_

Standing up, the man stretched, putting his arms over his head and yawning. 'Time to initiate phase 2 of the plan : Fuck around with the Soul Society so hard it either collapses or I get a good enough laugh out of it.' With that, a flurry of snow and wind collected around him, so that when it disappeared, so did he.

Appearing in a cave covered with ice and scars after many training sessions, the man walked forward, to a blinking screen with a keyboard and spinning chair next to it. He dragged the chair to the middle of the desk, sat down, and started typing on the keyboard, signing in and opening a folder titled Taicho's of the Seireitei. In the folder were 13 folders, but three were colored in red and he clicked on those three, Isshin Shiba, Byakuya Kuchiki, and Shunsui Kyouraku. Quotes, evaluations, tests, and videos of the taichos filled the three files, and the man scrolled down to the bottom of all three, fresh dialogue and evaluations appearing.

Grinning the man minimized the files titled Byakuya Kuchiki and Shunsui Kyouraku, enlarging the file titled Isshin Shiba, words depicting the dreams given to him by the man at the computer. ' _Just as I thought, his body reacted the same way too._ ' The man tapped a slightly elevated circle implanted in the desk, causing a crystal encased in glass tube topped with wood paneling to pop up, which was colored three thirteens red, and ten thirteens blue. He tapped one of the red thirteens, which on the monitor caused the Isshin Shiba file to cover the whole screen. Closing his eyes, the man poured his white reitsu into it, just enough for the subject to experience some mild discomfort, and then slowly, he poured more reitsu into the strange crystal inside the glass.

 **A/N:** **This is InsaneLocoFangirl back for another story, Bleach this time. I've sort of paused my progress on The New Face in the Guild, but no need to worry; it will be back once I've regained some motivation. I sort of lost my phone, which had all my notes on it for the story and the entire next chapter. Hope you guys liked that chapter, it was little weird and Toshiro was little out of character, like last chapter, but when he was younger I imagine him being more temperamental and emotional.**


	3. The UnSub

**Various Soul Society Officials and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams Chapter 3**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any character mentioned**

Flash-forward / Flashback

Present

' _Thoughts_ '

0o0o0oo000o0 = Timeskip, POV, or scenery change/author's note

" **Oh, Toshiro, we have the same zanpakuto! I knew it! We'll be friends forever!" Kusaka Sojuro yelled excitedly, grinning ear to ear.**

" **Huh?" Toshiro looked up from his zanpakuto, Hyorinmaru. "Yeah, I guess so."**

" **Come on, don't be such a downer, Shiro!" Kusaka yelled, walking toward the slightly confused academy student.**

 **Toshiro gained a tick mark on his forehead, "Don't call me Shiro!"**

 **Laughter erupted from his friend's mouth, which caused Toshiro to explode and start yelling insults and defensive statements including how Kusaka should address him and why Shiro wasn't an appropriate name for him to use.**

" **Kusaka? What are you doing here?" Toshiro asked, mildly confused.**

 **Kusaka turned to look at his friend, also confused, "I was sent here by Central 46 what are you doing here? Wait, were you also sent by Central 46?"**

 **Toshiro nodded, but only just before all hell broke loose. Rows upon rows of large table appeared in all directions, and sitting at them were two people per table, face covered with white paper. All of them were speaking, arguing, but stopped suddenly, and then one of the people spoke.**

" **Toshiro Hitsugaya, Kusaka Sojuro, it has been called to our attention that you both have the same zanpakuto, this goes against ancient Soul Society Laws. You must fight to the death to determine who deserves Hyorinmaru," the Central 46 member stated with his voice low.**

" **Wait! Why can't we both wield Hyorinmaru?" Toshiro exclaimed eyes wide.**

" **Hyorinmaru is the most powerful ice and snow type zanpakuto in recorded Shinigami history, of course, you can't both wield it!" A female Central 46 member yelled, from one of the higher tables.**

" **If that's the case, then I give up Hyorinmaru! I don't want to fight Kusaka, it's not right!" Toshiro yelled, desperation clear in his voice and face.**

" **That is impossible, you must fight!" All Central 46 members yelled at once, and then they all disappeared.**

" **Hyorinmaru is rightfully mine, I'll kill you!" Kusaka yelled, drawing Hyorinmaru and running full speed at Toshiro.**

 **As Kusaka ran, reiatsu poured off him in waves, the intensity and emotion in the reiatsu almost knocking Toshiro off his feet. Toshiro drew his Hyorinmaru and ran at Kusaka, reiatsu also pouring off him, slightly stronger than Kusaka's. Their zanpakuto's and reiatsu clashed, and there was an explosion of light and dust. Once the dust cleared, it was obvious what had happened, Toshiro's reiatsu had overpowered Kusaka's, who was now breathing heavily and bleeding from a wound on his forehead.**

 **Suddenly, Onmitsukidō members appeared, two grabbing Toshiro's arms, another knocking Hyorinmaru out of his hand. A ring of Onmitsukidō members surrounded Kusaka and started closing in.**

" **No, wait! The test isn't over! I'm not dead! Hyorinmaru is rightfully mine!" Kusaka yelled, just before a flurry of kunai's and zanpakuto pierced him. He stared at Toshiro with eyes filled with betrayal, hurt, anger, and sadness.**

 **Toshiro's eyes were wide with emotion, and he attempted to push aside the much larger and stronger Onmitsukidō members as he screamed, "Kusaka!"**

The white haired third seat suddenly sat up in his futon, only a thin, soft blanket between him and the cold which seeped in from the open slider door which the boy had opened prior to falling asleep. He took his hands from under the cover and slid them across his face, holding his face in his hands and trying to wipe the cold sweat from his face. Toshiro tried to stop himself from shaking but his body wouldn't stop, not with all that fear and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He stopped shaking so much and then got out of his futon to close the door he usually kept open. As he was closing it, he noticed that the moon was in the middle of the sky, midnight. The child prodigy frowned, he'd only slept for an hour. He usually didn't get much sleep, but it was mostly at least three hours, seven at most. The nightmares woke him up at three if he wasn't exhausted to the bone. If he was so tired he could barely move, seven hours would be the best his body could give him until the dam broke and memories flooded in.

It was then when he had turned on his lamp light beside his futon, on the low desk like table, that he realized something wasn't exactly right. 'Where're the guards?' Due to a previous incident in which an upset academy flunkie tried to kill Toshiro, there was always at least one guard around Toshiro when he was asleep, but now they were gone. Toshiro kept his breath from hitching and calmly got up, walking over to the sword stand which held Hyorinmaru in its grip. He then unclasped the buckle holding Hyorinmaru, and then grabbed its hilt, pulling it and its sheath with it out of the stand without a sound. Slowly slinging the cloth holding Hyorinmaru across his chest, he mouthed a kido allowing him to see better in the dark. He crept forward toward the open door grabbing a human world titanium dagger from the desk he kept pushed against the wall closest to the door with his left hand. With his right hand holding onto Hyornimaru's grip, Toshiro pushed the door open with his left arm. The child prodigy glanced down to see a guard lying on the ground, staring into the unforgiving sky. Looking around, he cautiously crouched and checked the man's pulse with his left hand, reversing his grip on the dagger so he wouldn't stab the guard in the neck.

There was no pulse. Toshiro felt a shiver go down his spine, but it wasn't from the cold. The logical thing to do was to make his way down to his squad mate or call for help, but as Toshiro was about to do just that, he caught a glimpse of a figure cloaked in white jumping up the wall surrounding the Tenth Division Barracks. Shunpoeing on top of the wall, Toshiro did a one-eighty, just barely seeing the intruder rounding a corner. He shunpoed to the corner and was about to start running when something slammed on top of him. The third seat was about to throw the UnSub (Unknown Subject) off him when the dagger was pulled from his grip and held to his throat. While normally Toshiro would've just ripped the dagger away or did a shunpo to get away, his arms were pinned and the UnSub was making direct contact with him, so if he did Shunpo, the UnSub would be taken with him.

"Listen 'ere. I don't want to do this brotha', but you jus' got in the way. So, if you could jus'... I don' know, fuck off that'd be great." A male voice said behind Toshiro ear. A few minutes passed before the man said anything else.

"No? Okay, then I suppose I'll have to take you with me."

The UnSub used his free hand to use a strong bakudo to paralyze Toshiro, including his tongue so he couldn't speak, "Up we go!"

The UnSub easily pulled Toshiro onto his shoulder, holding him with his right hand, the dagger presumably stored away in his pocket or something. Three shunpoes later, the two arrived in the middle of a lake covered in ice. The man dropped Toshiro semi-gently and then stepped back.

"Aight'. I better get paid for this big time, that piece o' shit ain't taken no risks." The man shook his head.

"Sorry bout' this, but I can't have you followin me," the man muttered something under his breath and a restrictive barrier bakudo appeared around Toshiro, glowing white, but then disappearing, turning transparent.

"It should hold for a while, at least a couple hours, though at your level I imagine I could make it so you never get out, but the big boss says nah, or I quote, 'If you attempt such a thing, I will come out and make it so you never get out of a five by five restrictive barrier bakudo cell.'" The man grinned.

"In any case, I'll see you later, Lil' Captain."

'Captain? Why did he call me that? I'm only a third seat, and usually people think I'm of a lesser rank, not a higher…' Toshiro thought, stunned.

Toshiro recovered and glared at the man, whom a second later disappeared. He made no attempt to break the bakudo making him paralyzed or the one around him, he had assessed the moment they had been placed that no matter what he did they wouldn't break unless remotely done so. The only thing he could do was assess the UnSub.

He wore a loose black trench coat, black pants, and a black T-Shirt, but what else? Black, custom made boots, a black bandana covering his face nose down, with a white smiling skeleton mouth. Covering his hair and ears was a black beanie. His eyes were… brown. Frustrated, Toshiro glared at the ice underneath him. He couldn't think of anything else, the man wasn't in his field of vision for long.

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The truth of the whole Bankai matter was that Toshiro had - in a sense, achieved it. But he had not mastered it in the least, which was why the plan he had such a high risk of permanent injury or death. What was his plan you might ask? It was to use his Bankai, or rather the overflowing reiatsu caused by it to break not only the bakudo that paralyzed him but break the restrictive barrier cell. There was one problem. Well, actually two. One of them being that the reiatsu was so intense that unless controlled, it could cause a lot of damage, permanent maybe, to the body. The other being that the reiatsu overflow could potentially (nearly 100% certain) break the ice underneath him, which of course wouldn't be a problem if his Bankai broke the bakudo, but there was a small chance (also nearly 100% certain) that his Bankai wouldn't break the bakudo.

It was worth a chance, though, because Toshiro could not wait for a couple of hours, especially with Isshin sick and no doubt by now there would be people looking for him. So he shut his eyes, concentrating, and a loud roar reverberated inside his head and he shouted in his head, ' _Bankai! Daiguren Hyorinmaru!_ '

In an instant, jagged, frosty wing of ice grew from Toshiro's back, ice crawling up around his arms and legs to create a flexible, thin layer of ice covering his entire back. But also in that same instant, the ice broke and the small third seat crashed into the lake with wide eyes.

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 **Sorry for the extremely long wait on a tiny chapter like this. Please forgive me but I was really busy these past however many weeks since the last chapter. For those of you eagerly awaiting the next New Face in the Guild chapter, know that I have not forgotten and promise to get you a chapter probably between the 10th and the 13th. Also, my first story Jinchūriki and the Olympians will be transferred onto Wattpad but will be refined and some major changes to the plot, especially the ending which I found quite terrible will be made. Sorry for the inconvenience!**


	4. Grace and a Heartbeat

**Various Soul Society Officials and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams Chapter 4**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any character mentioned**

 **Flash-forward / Flashback**

 **Present**

 **Thought**

 **0o0o0oo000o0 = Timeskip, POV, or scenery change/author's note**

"I won't ever join your stupid school, Bed-wetter Momo!" Me…

"Don't play with that kid, he's weird…" That child.

"Stand up and be a man!" Rangiku.

"Let's be friends!" Kusaka.

"Hyornimaru's rightfully mine!" Kusaka…

"What's your problem punk?" My bully.

"That's that prodigy that beat Handura, right?" My classmate.

"This guy's our third seat? Ha, yeah right!" My teammate.

"So you were the one who ate my buns!" Taicho.

"Hey, Shiro… what happened to us?" Momo…

"Leave the room, Matsumoto, Hitsugaya." Taicho…

"Can't risk you followin' me." That man.

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Rangiku crept quietly through the woods, the tracks came this way. The tracks led everywhere; there were so many different footprints, which meant that nothing good was going on here. Whenever so many footprints were found, it meant that someone was hiding their tracks.

She hadn't been able to sleep, spending hours staring at the ceiling in her taicho's spare room. Unohana had assigned her to take care of Isshin while Unohana did some research about his illness in a lab. The futon was comfortable, so that wasn't the problem, neither was the noise, there wasn't any. So Rangiku just stared, frustrated, at the ceiling. Finally, she gave up and sat up, glancing at the half empty sake bottle next to her futon, before completely disregarding it.

Rangiku pushed the covers off of her and opened one of the slider doors, immediately feeling the cold rush in from the outside. How can Toshiro stand this? She shivered in her pajamas but walked outside onto the porch after grabbing her covers. Pulling the covers close around her, she breathed in deeply and exhaled, watching her breath go into the air. I do admit though, the snow is pretty; I guess I can see the appeal. The white, powdery snow glittered in the moonlight like crystals. Small icicles lined the end of the roofs, constantly growing.

There really wasn't anything that tipped her off, but she suddenly decided to go visit Toshiro in the middle of the night, or rather 4 in the morning. He always woke up the strangest times, wonder why. Rangiku went back into her room and got changed into her normal attire, adding a cute black winter coat she'd gotten from the human world, and shunpoed off toward Toshiro's secluded house, separate from the barracks but still within earshot.

Almost immediately, Rangiku realized something was wrong. Unfortunately, it was common for Toshiro's guards to be asleep or totally absent but the only guard on duty that night was lying with his zanpakto pulled out in an uncomfortable position. She pulled out her zanpakto, Haineko, and checked the man's pulse. He's dead… Rangiku crept inside; Hyorinmaru was missing, a drawer hastily opened, futon unmade, and footprints outside in the snow… What's happened here?

So, of course, Rangiku had followed footsteps to the obvious takedown to where she was currently, walking through the woods with Haineko drawn, carefully observing the tracks surrounding her. It was then that the massive blast of reiatsu occurred, so powerful it was visible in the sky a half a kilometer up. That feels like Toshiro's reiatsu! Then Rangiku shunpoed away in the direction of the raging reiatsu immediately after feeling it. Once arriving at the source, Rangiku stood still at the edge of the now large clearing.

Stumps of trees were all that of the trees within a kilometer of the point of origin, and those beyond were leaning back so far the trunks threatened to break, the ground covered in reiatsu covered frost, and the trees were crystallized with ice, their leaves frozen a brittle. In the middle of all this destruction was a lake, almost completely frozen over, except for in the middle, where the thick ice broke to show an opening, most likely the exact point of origin of the blast.

It suddenly came to Rangiku that a third seat was incapable of this kind of destruction with just reiatsu; to even have this must reiatsu was captain class level _. Could he have achieved Bankai? He only started a year ago… and that doesn't explain the dead guard and the footprints, not to mention why he would've used his Bankai…_ Rangiku came closer, slowly, cautiously, until a few minutes passed without anything happening. Then, and only then, did she come to the edge of the large hole in the ice, peering down into the lake's depths. The water was murky and deep, so deep that the water appeared a dark blue. It appeared there was nothing there but Rangiku could feel Toshiro's reiatsu underneath the water, but it was fainter now, not as distinct, almost to the level of a normal shinigami.

The reiatsu had dropped from the level of a taicho's to a normal shinigami's in three minutes. That fact was worrisome, and Rangiku was about to jump in when an arm thrust out of the water on the other side of the 50 by 50 hole in the ice. Then a head came out, gasping and coughing, white hair drenched in ice cold water, then another arm. Rangiku was too shocked to move or say anything. Toshiro pulled himself shakily onto the ice, arms shaking but reinforced by his Bankai. His wings were gone as a result of a loss of reiatsu from a near death experience. Only a thin, strong, and flexible layer of ice was all that was left of his Bankai. He was shaking and was unconscious, lying on his back, wet hair plastered to his forehead, and Hyorinmaru missing from his hand. Rangiku snapped out of it and shunpoed to his side. She put her hand on his forehead and immediately jerked it back, he was colder than anything she'd ever felt before. Undeterred, she picked up the weak third seat and started her journey to the fourth division barracks where Unohana would undoubtedly be.

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 _Is this what cold feels like? It's so numb… my whole body is numb. How strange… I never thought I would feel this way. I think Rangiku is above me… what is she doing? Why is she just standing there? Why… is she there at all? Wait… where am I? Oh… right, I used my Bankai. I'm on a lake… or am in it?_

 **Master! Wake up!**

 _Hyorinmaru? What is that dragon talking about now? He always says the oddest things… doesn't he? Do I need to wake up? What? Oh, I'm out of the water now… When did that happen? Why am I… why am I so warm on my left side? I bet it's Rangiku. She always takes care of me… I can tell because there's always the slight smell of sake on my clothes… putting me to bed when I fall asleep. I guess that's what she's doing now…. Thanks, Rangiku, for putting me to bed…_

 **Master! Wake up! Please!**

Toshiro breathed in heavily and started coughing, finding himself in his, mindscape, the snowstorm that usually raged was quiet. For the first time, Toshiro could see what his surrounding was more than a few feet in front of him. A school, built with bricks and stairs going up to an entrance, behind him a field of dead grass, a cracked blacktop with basketball hoops leaning awkwardly in every direction.

"Wha…" Toshiro stared, wide eyed, completely confused. This is my mindscape?

"Welcome, it's about time you finally managed to calm that storm, though from what Hyorinmaru told me you didn't do it of your own volition," a calm voice came from the left of Toshiro.

Toshiro quickly looked to left and saw the one who spoke. A girl of average height with brown, long hair in a ponytail looked up at him from where she sat on the dead grass. She wore glasses over her brown eyes and had a slightly annoyed expression plastered on her face.

She opened her mouth to speak but Toshiro interrupted, "Who are you and what are you doing in my mindscape?"

The girl scowled, "If you let me explain I would tell you."

"My name is Grace and I live here. Why? Because you need a friend while your stupid ass is stuck in here. And by the way, I would appreciate it if you stopped being such a stuck up asshole to everyone."

Toshiro glared at Grace for a few moments before responding, "If that's true, what exactly are you? You're not my zanpakto because… where's Hyorinmaru?"

"He's trying to save you from dying of reiatsu exhaustion, hypothermia, ten minutes without sufficient air to the brain, among other things. Sorry that keeping you alive is his top priority over being your friend here in your mindscape. As for what I am, just imagine that I'm your…" Grace paused. "That I'm your roommate who only very slightly cares for your existence."

0o0o0o0o000o0o0o0ooo0o0o000o0ooo00o0o0o000oo0o000ooooo0o0o00o0o0o000ooo0000000ooo0

Rangiku ignored every protocol in the book and shunpoed straight into Unohana's lab. She almost landed on an attendant before they threw themselves from harm's way and screamed. Unohana immediately came to check on what was happening and found herself face to face with a worried Rangiku holding a limp and practically unbreathing Toshiro. Without question, she took the third seat from the lieutenants arms and shunpoed away with Rangiku following.

"What happened?" Unohana asked with a slightly worried tone.

Rangiku took a moment to answer, "I don't know, I found his quarters empty and the guard dead, and then tracks in the snow. I followed them till I lost them and felt a powerful reiatsu surge the level of a taicho. I went to the origin and saw a devastated area with a lake in the center. After a few minutes, Toshiro clawed his way from the lake with a strange flexible ice layer covering almost his entire body."

"I see, I'll take care of him, but you should notify Isshin-taicho right away," Unohana said hurriedly as she set Toshiro down on a bed.

Rangiku left but Unohana continued, her lieutenant taking Toshiro's wet clothes off and putting on new ones, leaving his chest bare. Unohana started checking his temperature and healing him by inserting reiatsu into his body and healing internal injuries. His left lung had collapsed due to the ordeal and had massive amounts of internal bleeding.

She ordered Isane to warm him and insert reiatsu to help his body heal itself.

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Rangiku shunpoed as fast as she could toward the Tenth Division's barracks and slipped several times. She had to rest briefly and saw Momo coming toward her, immediately seeing something was wrong.

"Rangiku, is there something wrong?" Momo asked, alarmed.

Rangiku caught her breath and responded, "Toshiro is hurt and at the Fourth Division, you should go there."

Momo became horrified, "What happened?"

Rangiku just shook her head and left, almost to the Tenth Division. The guards standing at Isshin's door stood aside and she stumbled in to see Isshin standing from his couch and looking at his lieutenant worriedly.

"What happened?" Isshin inquired.

Rangiku again took a moment to respond, "Toshiro's been hurt bad. I don't know how or when but Unohana seemed worried…"

Before she finished, Isshin was out the door with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders. The guards were alarmed and tried to stop him but the taicho shunpoed away effortlessly. Rangiku followed after him immediately.

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"What were you thinking?" An angry voice spat from the figure hunched over a control panel in pain.

A voice, also in pain said as calmly as possible, "You said to not have anyone follow me, so I made sure no one did."

"You idiot!" Another voice hissed, holding back a scream.

Look at the state we're in! This is your fault!"

We can't do our job if we're like… Ahhhhhh!"

A scream erupted from the figure's mouth and it fell to its knees. Blood rolled down from his nose and out of its mouth and out of its ears and tears formed at the corners of its eyes.

"Look what you have done to u-ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" The figure screamed again and collapsed in agony, holding its head.

The figure wailed and sobbed and rocked back in forth to avoid the pain to no relief. It just would not stop, until finally, it did… when it fell unconscious from the pain.

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"So…you're my roommate?" Toshiro asked, sitting next to Grace.

Grace looked at him before saying, "Yeah, I guess."

"You're the one who said it," the white haired soul reaper responded.

Grace only shrugged and the two only stared at the school. Toshiro observed how serene it was without the constant howl of the wind and the snow. The school was broken and falling apart, trees were without leaves and some were being strangled by vines and others had fallen down. The baseball cage was rusted a falling over, and beyond a wire fence there were houses in perfect condition.

"Grace…" Toshiro started uncertainly. "Why is it that my mindscape is an abandoned school?"

Grace shifted and looked something other than annoyed or arrogant for the first time, "Hyorinmaru and me think it's cause' you died here or something like that. Secretly, I think its cause' you are stuck in a state of learning and improving but your so messed up your imprisoned in a broken school where you never learn anything important. The houses are to represent everything you could be but the storm was stopping you from seeing."

Surprised, Toshiro frowned, "I don't see how either of those theories could possibly be correct. I don't spin my wheels learning nothing important, and there is no way I don't remember that I died here. But you said the storm stopped me, so why is the fence here?"

The girl looked over at Toshiro, "Technically, it has no physical purpose but it acts as a barrier to block your memories and all those possibilities are only available to you when you let the memories in. You have already in some ways by your nightmares but that was unintentional…"

She stopped as she stared in space and glared at the school.

The two sat in silence again for a while until Grace spoke, "Toshiro, do you know why you're here?"

It's because this is a last defense, you innermost sanctum where no one but you and Hyorinmaru can be. It's where when you're on the verge of death where your body can devote practically every resource to healing you."

There's no telling-"

Suddenly, Toshiro clutched his heart and Grace felt sick. Blood rushed to his head and he could only hear his heart beating, though Grace was shaking him and saying something. Toshiro collapsed on the grass, still holding his heart.

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"Unohana-taicho! His heart has stopped beating!"

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 **Hello, it's me again with a decent sized chapter (I think…) and another late chapter as well… Hahaha… It was because I was a little unsure about the plot before I just decided to go with my original idea which turned into something a little weird. Anyway, I will try to get into some sort of schedule but no promises. This is actually going to be a shorter story, maybe 8-10 more chapters because my main project is The New Face in the Guild which will go until probably at least a year or two. Speaking of that, I will try to get a new chapter for the New Face in the Guild out this month although again, no promises.**


	5. A Sobbing Corpse

**Various Soul Society Officials and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams Chapter 5**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any character mentioned**

 **Flash-forward / Flashback**

Present

 _Thought_

0o0o0oo000o0 = Timeskip, POV, or scenery change/author's note

 **Once upon a time, there lived two siblings that were twins. One was a small boy with a shock of jet black hair. The other was a small girl with long brown hair. The twins lived in a household of abuse, and hated their parents, but loved each other in the way only siblings could. They played with each other every day and almost always ran from the house to play soccer in the field where they could escape from their parents. The twins didn't have any friends except for themselves, so were often alone.**

 **One particularly cold day in the winter, the two decided to go skating on the lake next to the field where they played soccer. They had stolen the skates from a shop a while ago and hadn't had the time to use them. So, the two skated across the ice playfully and created designs in the mostly thick ice. The boy picked the sport up like a natural, but the girl struggled and fell often. Soon enough though, the girl got the idea of it with her brother's help, and enjoyed skating as much as him.**

 **It was getting darker and colder, and even though the twins would've loved to stay longer, knew they should leave. The girl wanted to skate around the lake once more, so the twins did. As the two laughed, neither noticed the small bump of ice and thin looking ice beyond it. The girl, who was ahead of the boy, hit the bump and crashed onto the lake hard. Immediately, the ice broke and with a scream, the girl disappeared into the cold, dark water. Delight gone, the boy screamed and hurried to where the girl had disappeared. Small bubbles broke the calm surface of the water and the boy threw himself into the water.**

 **It was murky water, and with the sun nearly gone, it was almost pitch black. Even so, the boy could see his sister sink deeper into the water, even as she tried to swim upwards. The two got close enough to touch, and they grabbed each other's wrists. As soon as they made contact, the two swam upwards with all their strength.**

 **The twins broke the surface of the water and climbed up the edge of the thin ice. Their heavy breaths showed as the cold froze them and floated into the air like balloons. Both of the twins were exhausted but excited by the adrenaline. It had started to snow while they were under the ice. Let's go home, said the boy. Yeah, replied the girl. So, the twins got up, and huddling together, walked through the deep snow covering the field and started walking up the hill. The two were holding hands, and suddenly the girl stopped walking and let go of the boy's hand. The boy looked back and went back for his sister.**

 **The girl was shaking and was now lying in the snow. Let's rest here for a little, the girl said through chattering teeth. The boy, exhausted, agreed, and lay down next to his sibling. Quickly, they fell asleep, and with their bodies lying next to each other, they were covered by the growing snowstorm. They never woke up and were never found until the snow melted in the spring.**

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Isshin and Rangiku raced through the Seireitei, toward the Fourth Division. Sweat poured down Isshin's flushed face, caused by his high fever and the effort needed to shunpo.

Meanwhile, as the limp body of a practically dead third seat was being set down on a bed, Unohana prepared a kido that would hopefully restart the boy's heart. While Unohana did this, Isane performed CPR on him and took blood samples before it was too late. Handing off the blood sample to an orderly with an order, she prepared to resume CPR but was stopped by her captain.

"Isane, get back," the legendary healer stated with a solemn voice, and with glowing hands, slammed them into Toshiro's chest.

He convulsed as the shock went through him, but his heart didn't start working. As Isane was about to check his pulse, she saw his hand. Already, his left hand was glowing blue and becoming particle like. Decomposition of the soul started once reiatsu was almost nonexistent. Unohana mumbled under her breath and prepared another kido. The process of decomposition could be slow or fast depending on the state of the body, and Toshiro's decomposition was slower than normal. It was even further slowed by Isane's expert CPR skills, and by the time Unohana was ready, half of his left arm was missing. The blue particles that used to be his hands floating in the air, blocked from escaping by the ceiling.

Unohana slammed her hands into Toshiro's chest again with such force the bed shook, and as his body convulsed, his heart started. The blue particles on the ceiling stopped skittering across it, and slowly came down, connecting together as they did so to create the rough outline of half an arm and hand. It connected to the rest of the third seat's arm and became a completed arm. The part of the arm that had disappeared had lighter skin, to the point of paper white.

Relieved and exhausted, Unohana collapsed into a chair by Toshiro's bed. But Isane knew what to do and didn't need any orders, immediately hooking the third seat into machines that helped him breathe, monitored his heartbeat and blood pressure, among many other things. Isane grabbed a pair of white hospital clothes and changed him out of his uniform. The shirt and pants fit him perfectly, and his 'new' arm almost blended in with the sheets and clothes. A moment after Isane had changed Toshiro, Isshin and Rangiku practically knocked down the door to get in. An orderly entered after them, apologizing about the interruption and then more excuses.

Before the two could take a step, Unohana got up and ushered the two worried shinigamis out the door and didn't come back.

Isane stared at the door before looking down at Toshiro, "Hitsugaya… what happened? Even if you were stuck under a freezing ice lake for who knows how long, a reaction that severe can only occur because of so many things…"

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Ears ringing, Toshiro groaned and curled up on the dead grass. The area where his heart was was on fire, and his entire body ached. A moment later, a fist slammed into his head and he sat up and whacked away the fist. His body felt worse as he sat up but stayed upright nonetheless, and he looked at his attacker.

"Oh," Toshiro said. "It's you."

Looking worried, Grace yelled, "Of course it's me! Hyorinmaru isn't here so who else could it be?"

Toshiro blinked and smirked, "I thought you said you only slightly cared for my existence and yet you're practically crying over me just falling over…"

"Baka!" Grace yelled at him as she wiped her eyes. "I am not crying! And I'm not worried…"

Grace promptly started sobbing and covered his face in her hands. Shocked, the white headed shinigami suddenly hugged the crying girl. Shocking still, Grace leaned into him and let him hold her tighter to him. Awkwardly, the boy put his chin on her head and whispered comforting things to her.

"Please don't cry," Toshiro said with a soft voice, strangely compelled to comfort the girl who had acted like an asshole to him not long ago.

The two sat with the only sound they heard sobs and the rustling wind. At some point, Toshiro had started shaking and crying silently himself, realizing the fact that he had actually died for a little bit or at least was at death's doorstep and most likely still was. He would've never cried in front of her or anyone if she couldn't see him and could only feel the heaves of his chest and his shaking body. It wasn't cold but they huddled together long after both of them had stopped crying, just to feel each other's warmth; Toshiro because he was afraid he'd never wake up again, and Grace because she was afraid he'd fall over again and never get back up.

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Two shinigami stood next to the door as Unohana lectured them about not barging in on operations that could go very wrong. Unlike most people, when Unohana got angry, she had a smile on her face, a calm voice, and reiatsu flaring off her so that it was almost visible. The lieutenant just stared at the ground with a terrified expression and tried not to think too much about her injured comrade. Meanwhile,

the captain, wearing the same terrified expression, just stared at Unohana and didn't even try not to think about his subordinate.

Finally, Unohana stopped lecturing and suddenly looked very exhausted, "I know you want to know how Toshiro's doing, but honestly his condition is really a mystery. The only thing we know is that he's alive and that he was on the verge of complete soul decomposition."

At that, Rangiku looked up with tears at the corners and a hand over her mouth, "You mean he actually was dead long enough for the process to start?"

Unohana just nodded, "It took half his left arm before Isane was able to restart his heart and put more reiatsu in him, but only just in time because the process would've been irreversible."

Rangiku turned away with tears streaking her cheeks and Isshin wrapped his arms around her in comfort. Isshin was also equally horrified and upset, but his face was red with anger and it would not let him cry. Respectively, Unohana said nothing and looked away from the two in silence. It was a couple minutes before Rangiku got a hold of herself and stopped crying. The two turned back to face Unohana.

Isshin was the first to break the silence, "Who did that to him?"

"We have no idea, in fact, we have no idea why he reacted in such a violent way seeing as actually the injury wasn't anything major for someone of his caliber," Unohana stated with a hand on her chin.

Almost immediately afterwards, Rangiku spoke, "There was a massive burst of reiatsu that I'm sure was Toshiro's that was at the level of a captain's. At first I didn't think it was his, but looking back on it, it would only make sense for it to be Toshiro's reiatsu…"

Slowly, the three realized what happened and Isshin said it first, "He activated his Bankai. But why didn't he tell us about it? I know the kid doesn't say much or get excited by anything but unlocking your Bankai is big."

Rangiku shook her head, "No, Toshiro was trying to tell us. After the last time he came to the fourth division, he sighed and said that was the last time. Not only that, but he practically stopped training with his Shikai, which he usually did, and left during training to go somewhere else."

Unohana nodded, "That makes sense… When I told him to be careful next time as he left, he just said that he never would need to if it was Bankai training related. I didn't think much of it because he seemed pretty confident in his ability as I was treating him, but now it fits with what Rangiku said perfectly."

At that revelation, the group stayed in silence, and the white walls amplified any sound to make it almost deafening. So when Isane opened the door and stepped into the hallway, they were all shocked and had ringing ears. It didn't take a genius to realize that Isane wanted Unohana to come in and the other two worried shinigami to stay out.

As Unohana entered, Isshin asked, "When can we see him?"

Taking pity on her fellow captain, the healer responded, "Whenever he's stable and asleep."

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Recovered, the figure stared at the screen thoughtfully. It was still in agonizing pain, but it had felt worse before and dealt with it. The security camera it had hacked into was allowing him to watch the tenth division captain and his lieutenant as they waited for the fourth division captain to come out of the room and tell them more about their third ranked shinigami's health.

Eventually, it got bored and minimized the screen, maximizing the security camera looking at Byakuya Kuchiki. The boy had been promoted to captain not long ago and was pretty inexperienced, even if he picked up the job quickly. _Hmm… what do to do what to do…_ Tapping one of its fingers on the desk, it held its head with its arm and leaned forward.  
The mostly blue crystal tempted it and it glanced at the crystal and grinned. _Right… that's what I should do… Let's initiate Phase 2.05, improvised. Fuck around with Byakuya and Shunsui while we wait for Isshin to get out of that hospital so we can initiate Phase 2.1, totally not improvised._

It's grin widened and it touched the crystal with it's pale right hand and after looking at it, ripped two of the red thirteenths out of place and switched their spots. _This is going to be most entertaining._

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 **This is a just a chapter I made while trying to come up with ideas for another chapter. If you can guess what switching the two red thirteenths will do, I'll incorporate your story idea in this story.**


	6. A Man In White

**Various Soul Society Officials and the Hopefully Sake Induced Dreams Chapter 6**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any character mentioned**

 **Flash-forward / Flashback**

Present

 _Thought_

0o0o0oo000o0 = Timeskip, POV, or scenery change/author's note

 **Rukia lay on the a white tile floor, bleeding from her stomach, looking weak and like she was losing consciousness. A man with blue green eyes loomed over her threateningly, a sword poised above her to strike down. In an instant, Rukia was standing and had her zanpakuto in hand, thrust through the man's forehead, where ice then expanded across the head, causing it to crack and break apart. Another sword had plunged through her abdomen though, and she collapsed on the ground as the man screamed and turned into a body with a long glass container containing two shrunken heads floating in a green brine. A few seconds later the thing was on the ground, the heads spilled on the ground, screeching pathetically with the brine all over the floor.**

 **Blood trickled from Rukia's mouth but she smiled weakly in satisfaction as her eyelids got heavy and her eyes slowly closed.**

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Byakuya woke up in a cold sweat and pushed himself into a sitting position. His long hair ran far past his shoulders and was on his chest and face, as what he usually had keeping his hair back was gone. _Where am I? …This is the somebody's quarters, but why am I here when I last remember being at my office? And what was that dream trying to convey?_ The captain gathered himself and pushed away the thoughts about his dream and instead examined his surroundings. He was in a rather empty red walled and wooden floored room, which consisted of a white sheeted bed, a few wooden chairs, and a bed stand with pills and towels on it. There was no windows and only two sliding doors, one of which was right across from him. A teen with so black hair it looked almost blue sat on one of the chairs with his head lolling back as if they were asleep. They was wearing a shinigami uniform but had the special fourth division badge on they right shoulder and was snoring obnoxiously loud. It was unclear whether they were male or female and it was wrong to presume.

Ignoring how tired and heavy all his limbs felt, the captain grabbed a hold of the bed and pushed himself carefully off the bed, his legs trembling with the weight of his now frail body. _Why am I so weak? It's obvious I've been unconscious for a long time, but for how long?_ Byakuya took a few steps away from the bed and composed himself. He wasn't wearing his usual attire, but instead a loose white shirt and white pants… typical hospital clothing. As he carefully opened the sliding door, his eyes went wide as he saw heavy snowfall piling on the already snow laden ground. Suddenly, a dizzy spell hit him and he fell to his knees, causing the fourth division shinigami to yell and fall out of their chair. A second later they were standing and were looking around, and when they noticed the captain was gone, they screamed only to realize their captain was on their knees at the door.

"Taicho! What are you doing out of your bed? When did you wake up?" The attendant asked feverently as they kneeled at their captain's side.

"I got out of bed a few minutes ago. Where am I?" Byakuya asked, noticing his voice sounded a little strange.

"But… this is the guest room that we cleared out… What's the last thing you remember, Kyoraku-taicho?" The shinigami asked.

Byakuya's head snapped up, "What did you call me?"

The poor attendant looked horribly confused as they helped the man up, "Kyoraku-taicho?"

"Ah, yes… Um, can you help me to the bathroom?" The captain asked, clearing his throat.

The teen helped him to the bathroom and once he was gone, Byakuya looked in the mirror to confirm his suspicions. There was the stubble, the long brown hair, the kind face… all of it wasn't Byakuya, it was Kyoraku's. _How is this possible?_ The answer was in the hands of a certain thing who watched with amusement at the captain's confusion.

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Toshiro woke up to find his left arm aching and in a private hospital room. Machines beeped, recording his vital signs, showing he was still alive. A fourth division attendant sat on a chair, asleep but had a straight back and looked altogether regal. Finding himself lying on his back, the third seat sat up and then slipped out from under the sheets and stood up to look out the window. After a few minutes he opened the window and sat on the sill, watching the birds fly by, looking free and without a care in the world. _I really should call Unohana in, but she'll just ask questions and that's not what I need right now. I almost died so I think it's understandable if I go outside for a little bit since the mindscape can only be amusing for so long._ Toshiro stood on the window quietly and then climbed onto the roof, sitting at the edge of the tall building.

A few hours later, when the sun had gone to the highest point in the sky it could be, a tired attendant woke up to find Toshiro missing. He ran out of the room yelling for Unohana, finding her talking to Isshin, Rangiku, and Momo and they all rushed to the room.

"Do you have any idea where he is?" Isshin growled, glaring at the attendant.

The attendant just shook his head no while Rangiku and Momo looked around the room calling Toshiro's name. A few seconds later, after Unohana and Isshin had cornered the attendant, the two walked back over to them and too glared at the poor man who shook as they yelled at him.

"I heard somebody calling my name. So, what do you want?" An annoyed voice came from the window.

Everyone turned to look at a boy with white hair and white hospital clothes standing on the window sill with a frown and glare on his face, "Why are you all staring at me? It's annoying."

The third seat nonchalantly hopped down from the window and a few minutes later had four people yelling at him and asking questions, "Where were you? Do you have any idea what you put us through? How are you feeling? You almost died!"

"All of you calm down! You're getting on my nerves. To answer the questions, I was on the roof, I know what I did, I'm fine, and see the earlier response," Toshiro pushed past them all and sat on the bed.

After another round of yelling and questions, they all finally calmed down and Unohana asked, "So what happened?"

Right after, without hesitation, Toshiro responded, "I woke up and found my guards dead and I saw somebody escaping so I chased them. They placed a strong bakudo on me and put me on a lake where they put a barrier around me. I had to get out so I activated my Bankai and it plunged me into the water. I fell unconscious and here I am."

They all blinked dumbly at him and said in unison as if he had said something, "Wait, did you just say _that was it_? You achieved your Bankai and you didn't think to tell us?"

"Shiro! That was really dangerous," Momo cried out.

Toshiro gained a tick mark on his forehead and growled, "I'm fine! You're all so worried up me but I'm okay!"

"So, can I go now?" The third seat glared at the three of them as he scowled.

It was clear that they wanted to scream more at him, but Unohana shooed everybody out of the room and when they were gone she turned to him, "I have to do a checkup but if everything is okay then I'll let you go."

After putting back on his uniform, Toshiro escaped through a window facing the back so that he wouldn't be assaulted by Isshin, Rangiku, or Momo, and walked anywhere but the tenth division and in the opposite direction of the hospital. A while passed but he eventually found himself where he had been only a few days ago, trapped beneath a lake. He saw the permafrost he'd caused, snow constantly falling lightly as a result of his reiatsu, the lake's ice a foot thick and the snow at least his height, although strangely there was no snow on the lake. Walking in it was almost impossible and the only reason he didn't sink was because of his reiatsu. He saw the trees that had toppled over, frozen. All the trees within a mile radius were frozen, and a large portion of them were completely frozen. Most trees were bent back awkwardly and like they were about to collapse any second, and the temperature in the area seemed to be permanently way below zero.

Even with his ability to feel no cold, Toshiro could sense the cold in the air, and even felt a little humbled by the winter landscape.

"It's even more amazing than the first time I saw it…" A cold and somehow friendly voice echoed behind the third seat.

He whirled around and stared at the person behind him, surprised that he hadn't felt their reiatsu. A tall man wearing a heavy white coat, white winter pants, and white snow boots which presumably allowed him to stay above the snow. His hair was white and his eyes were a turquoise color, and he had a large horizontal scar across his throat along with a large scar barely visible across his forehead since it was covered by his hair. Toshiro noticed that the man looked disturbingly like a grown up version of himself, and managed to avoid rubbing his own throat.

"Who are you?" The third seat asked, noticing that the man appeared to have no hostile intentions.

"Somebody who enjoys the cold weather… I decided I'd go on a walk and I found myself here again. Beautiful isn't it? I wonder what caused it…" The man truly sounded curious and friendly as he spoke his words.

"Yes, I suppose," Toshiro turned but was still alert, even with the friendly attitude.

"I should go, but you be careful. It's a dangerous world, you wouldn't want to be dragged into it… especially not the underground, Toshiro," the man said, his voice suddenly threatening and cold.

With a hand on his zanpakuto, the icy shinigami turned to find the man gone, no footprints beside his own to indicate anyone had ever been there. Narrowing his eyes, he walked over and looked for any sign of the man; nothing. After making sure no one was around, he closed his eyes and stuck Hyorinmaru in the ground and chanted something. A few seconds later, Hyourinmaru was covered in smoke and when it cleared, a short brown haired girl stood shivering where his zanpakuto had been.

"Shiro! What the hell? Why'd you summon me here, it's freezing you asshole! I showed you how to summon me so I could go outside and have fun and be my own person, not to be summoned in this frozen wonderland when I have no shoes on!" An annoyed Grace hissed, glaring holes into her summoner.

Toshiro blinked and then smirked as he said, "I told you that I might need your help at any time. You should've been prepared."

Grace glared a few seconds longer before looking around, "What do you need my help for anyway? You should be smart enough to figure everything out yourself, right?"

"Look, I need your help because this is where I got dumped into that lake, and I have a suspicion that the man I just saw, the man who took me here, and whoever is doing all this to the taicho's are connected! I don't have any leads though, so I thought a new perspective on things might help. It looks like, though, that you'll be no help," Toshiro frowned as his companion smirked and then glared.

"Why didn't you just ask Rangiku?" Grace asked, shuddering with cold and something suspiciously similar to disgust.

"I don't want to talk to her right now, alright?" The third seat grumbled, clearly annoyed.

Grace shrugged, attempted to walk, and then stopped and glared at her friend, "Oh hell no! You summoned me here so you have to deal with the consequences! You're carrying me or I ain't helping you at all!"

Toshiro glared but nevertheless knelt down and carried her on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck loosely as she directed him where to go. There was a lot of pointing a yelling and biting of the head where the shorter of the two almost dropped his friend, but eventually they stood in the center of the lake, where it seemed even colder than anywhere else by a long shot. After a long bout of silence, Toshiro spoke.

"Do you see something?" He asked, careful to be quiet as to not hinder her concentration.

A moment passed before Grace pointed at something in the lake as she carefully stood up, "I'm not sure…"

She knelt, touching two fingers to the ice and her eyes turned orange and glowed blue before she stood up again and muttered, "I'm seeing a trace of reiatsu… heading North of here for a distance. It's familiar but at the same time it's not at all. I think you should get that orange bimbo bitch to come here at least. If you head off on your own again next time you might not be so lucky."

"Did you just call Matsumoto an orange bimbo bitch? And did you just say I was lucky last time?" The third seat asked, looking mildly perturbed.

"Yeah, what about it?" Grace turned her head and glared daggers at Toshiro

"Nothing. Besides, I'll have you on my side, and I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself," Toshiro said as he frowned.

"I'm a 5 foot, 2 inch tall girl wearing no shoes and like, fall clothing, weighing 160 pounds, and come from American descent -not that that matters, we're tough- with no way of protecting myself except the little bit of Taekwondo I picked up when I was alive. Not only, as much as I hate to admit it, am I not much help when it comes to combat, you got your ass kicked last time. Get her over here before I throw your stupid face onto the ground!" Grace grumbled, glaring and scowling.

"Fine, stay here…" Toshiro responded, shooting a glare at her.

Ten minutes later, an adult orange headed woman covered head to toe in clothing was walking along side a woefully underdressed seemingly seven year old who was barely 4 feet tall. They were already deep within the ice scape, and they had already entered the state of where all the trees were just stumps. That gave them a clear clue of a giggling and very loud child sliding around barefoot on the ice, sometimes slipping and sliding on their stomach.

Once they were in view, Rangiku asked, "Who is that?"

Toshiro face palmed and said with his hand still on his face, "Grace. Her name is Grace although she is the _exact opposite_ of grace."

Rangiku got the idea that she would learn who this Grace was when she saw her up close and that she shouldn't ask any more. She was half right. It was clear that the barefoot Grace was childish and unprepared, but the lieutenant couldn't get an exact read on her. Once Toshiro came within a few yards of her, she immediately stopped what she was doing and yelled at Toshiro as she pointed excitedly at something.

"Look what I found, Shiro! There's some human bones under here! Pretty neat right? But that's not all! I followed the trail of reiatsu for like a mile and I saw some people running after a dude! And they all were wearing shinigami clothing!" The girl had a smile on her face and then immediately covered it up with a scowl as her eyes laid on Rangiku.

"Nice to meet you! My name's-" Rangiku started excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah. I know who you are," Grace turned with a scowl on her face.

Looking uncertainly at Toshiro, she could tell he was confused as well, but for a different reason, "You were the one who wanted me to get Matsumoto so chill, Grace."

A bark of annoyed laughter came from the girl but she turned and stuck out a cold and bare shaking hand, "Nice to meet you. My name, obviously, is Grace; whatever _he_ may think about my name."

Rangiku just nodded and shook the girl's hand and found that it was extremely cold. Looking at the girl now, it was clear that she was not adapting well to the cold, and was shaking all over, even though she was doing her best to keep the scowl on her face, occasionally she would looked pained and her teeth would chatter. Glancing at her underling again, she saw that Toshiro was completely impassive and hard to read, although it was clear he was aware that his friend (?) was suffering. After punching Toshiro hard on the back of the head, which gave her the pleasure of hearing him yell at her, she took off one of the heaviest coats, a hat, gloves, and three scarfs. Against Grace's will, she stuffed the hat onto her head, zipped up the coat, wrapped two scarfs around her feet and one around her head, and then shoved her hands into the gloves.

There was muffled screaming and then a quiet thank you a few minutes after, and later she started showing them the way to where she had seen the man being chased. While they followed her, Rangiku stole a glance at Toshiro. The boy looked like he was in deep thought and she thought she saw a flash of guilt at the now barely shivering Grace, but it was so quick that it was probably her imagination.

After a minute, the group slowed to a stop, where Grace crouched, her eyes turning orange and glowing blue, and when she got up, she got Toshiro to carry her piggyback style and told him to go as fast as he could without shunpoing and directed him in what direction to go. While they ran, Rangiku realized something.

"Nevermind about who Grace is, what are you guys even doing here?" She suddenly asked.

Toshiro glanced back at Rangiku and muttered, "Like I said before, I followed someone and they used a hado on me. I was placed here on the middle of the lake. So, I was trying to get out to go after the person, who said some strange things and I believe he is involved in the three taicho's who have been sick. That's why we're out here; to stop all of this."

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 **We are nearing the end of this story as this was a side project and I just started a new side project. I will try not to rush the endings and still take my time when writing the chapters but I am not sure of everything I want to do yet although I have a rough outline. Hopefully I will finish this before the end of the year and will get another chapter out next month because I believe myself to be notoriously late on posting chapters.**


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